Yahoo News 15 ministers 'close to quitting' as Philip Hammond says second referendum is credible
Philip Hammond has said a second Brexit referendum is a ‘perfectly credible’ option as warring ministers continue to clash over Brexit.
The Chancellor warned that UK faces a potentially lengthy delay to Brexit and indicated the Tories could be prepared to compromise on a customs union – an idea that enrages Brexiteer ministers.
Arch Eurosceptic MP Steve Baker told MailOnline: “The Chancellor has come up with about the stupidest suggestion I could imagine. Look at the rage and despair created by asking Parliament to choose between Brexit in name only or no Brexit, and then imagine the public reaction.
“Is he trying to destroy all faith in democracy?”
Theresa May’s decision to meet with Jeremy Corbyn and seek a softer Brexit has already cost her two ministers – with many more reportedly ready to quit.
According to The Sun, 10 junior ministers and five members of the cabinet are said to be “on the edge” of resigning in protest at the Prime Minister’s plans.
One of those ministers told the paper: “Many, many colleagues in government are just seething and a lot of us are on the edge now – some over a customs union, others over European Parliament elections.
“What’s for sure is if she asks for a long extension next week it will mean mass resignations.”
One Tory big beast already hinting he’s ready to quit is International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, who said he was not prepared to ditch Tory manifesto promises.
The quitters
Wales minister Nigel Adams was the first to quit on Wednesday, denouncing the PM’s decision to meet Mr Corbyn as a “grave error”.
The Selby and Ainsty MP – a close ally of Boris Johnson who took part in planning for his abortive push for the leadership in 2016 – told Mrs May in a letter: “It now seems that you and your Cabinet have decided that a deal cooked up with a Marxist who has never once in his political life put British interests first is better than no deal. I profoundly disagree with this approach.”
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Chris Heaton-Harris quit the Department for Exiting the EU with a warning that the PM was being badly advised over the risks of no-deal.
The Daventry MP, whose responsibilities included overseeing no-deal preparations, said the UK would “swiftly overcome” any difficulties caused by quitting the EU without an agreement.
Mrs May’s evident determination to avoid no deal had made his job “irrelevant”, he said.
Meetings and plots
Following the meeting with the PM, Mr Corbyn said he put forward Labour’s view that “we want to achieve a customs union with the European Union, we want to have access to the market and, in particular, we discussed the dynamic regulatory alignment that is guaranteeing European regulations as a minimum on the environment as well as consumer and employment rights”.
A Labour spokesman said: “We have had constructive exploratory discussions about how to break the Brexit deadlock.
“We have agreed a programme of work between our teams to explore the scope for agreement.”
And Downing Street said: “Today’s talks were constructive, with both sides showing flexibility and a commitment to bring the current Brexit uncertainty to a close.
“We have agreed a programme of work to ensure we deliver for the British people, protecting jobs and security.”
However, other meetings took place between a large group of Brexiteer ministers – including Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom and Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson – to plot ways to derail Mrs May’s soft Brexit plans.
Blame game
As MPs lined up to attack the PM, the blame game also shifted to Tory Brexiteers for not passing Mrs May’s Brexit deal in the first place.
Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said a softer Brexit was “the remorseless logic of the numbers of the House of Commons”.
Mr Barclay told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “If the Prime Minister’s deal won’t go through and no deal in law is taken off the table, then the consequence of that is either a soft Brexit or no Brexit at all.”
He blamed hardliners in Tory ranks for the situation, saying: “It’s regrettable that what we have been saying for several months now is coming to pass, but that is the remorseless logic of not backing the Prime Minister’s deal.”
But Attorney General Geoffrey Cox suggested that it would remain possible for the UK to quit any customs union arrangement after successfully completing Brexit.
Mr Cox told BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg: “If we decided, in some considerable years’ time, that we wanted to review our membership of any such customs union if we signed it – and I’m not saying we will – that’s a matter for negotiation and discussion.
“There’s nothing to stop us removing ourselves from that arrangement, so we can’t look at these things as permanent straitjackets upon this country.”
No ‘no deal’?
In a boost to the Prime Minister, MPs failed in a bid to take over the Commons timetable on Monday for a third round of “indicative votes” on Brexit alternatives, with Speaker John Bercow wielding his casting vote after MPs split 310-310.
But MPs voted by a majority of one to allow a cross-party bid to pass legislation to block a no-deal Brexit in a single day.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU would accept an extension to May 22 if the UK had approved Mrs May’s Withdrawal Agreement by a “viable majority” before April 12.
But speaking in Brussels, he said a no-deal Brexit at the end of next week was becoming “more and more likely”, adding: “April 12 is the final date for possible approval. If the House of Commons does not adopt a stance before that date no short-term extension will be possible.”
